November 14, 2004

In the last few days, a number of people have clicked on "join ring" and ended up on this page. They weren't supposed to. I suspect that I'm witnessing the results of a little hacker pranksterism, but for whatever reason, the settings for the ring keep getting changed so that the "join ring" link on the ring hubpage takes applicants to this, the ring homepage. I've changed the settings to what they should be, only to later find that they've been changed back. If you've been inconvenienced by this, sorry to hear about that, but in these days of widspread spyware use, political fanaticism and "the ends justify the means" style ethics, things like this do happen. But we can act to reduce their impact: If the ring is currently open, please click here to join the Conservative Pagan, Traditionalist and Heathen Webring.

I won't pretend that I'm not annoyed, and really, I should be, if for no other reason, because it is annoying for people who come here in good faith, and to care about that is a matter of basic hospitality. Just recently, I e-mailed invitations to a number of the Asatruar, who, while not invariably conservative, tend ot be so, far more often than not. So, picture one of these people getting an invitation, coming to the ring, clicking on the "join ring" link - and winding up on a page on which he or she will find no form for signing up. Very frustrating. It would almost seem as if somebody was playing "red rover" with them, and that's never been my style. Conservatives seldom think that way, which I think is what draws many to Conservativism in the first place: the realization that in a Conservative cultural context, one does get to really and truly relax, because when we (as Conservatives) talk about civility, we mean what we say and "civility" is not being used a codeword for something else.

Compare this to the fanaticism so often seen on the Left, from true believers so dogmatically sure of their own rightness, that they feel no need to really listen to what others have to say, or to allow others a chance to listen, either. Online, we see acts of hacker sabotage, and offline, we see speech codes, or, when those can not be imposed, attempts to demonize those dissenting with the orthodoxy some would put in place. Consider one post which got passed from one member of the online Pagan community to the next, allegedly written by Garrison Keillor, entitled "We're not in Lake Wobegon, any more". Here's a representative passage:

I would be most unpleasantly surprised were I to learn that Mr.Keillor had anything to do with that piece. It doesn't seem to be his style. But I wasn't at all surprised to see something like it being circulated. Call it the last dying scream of the Political Correctness of the 1990s, something which much of the Pagan community, much to its lasting shame, has shown a reluctance to let go of, which is seldom matched in the outside world. Such is the arrogance of these, our witch-warring causeniks, that not only can they not seem to conceptualize the notion that their political ideas might be ill-considered, but they can't even seem to imagine the possibility that a reasonable and fair-minded individual might view them as being such. And thus, there are only two groups of people to be found, in such a closed world view: "those who think like us" and "the hatemongering right-wing creeps who need to be put in their place". DIY ethics being what they are, such individuals will, of course, feel that the end justifies the means, and so will not worry greatly about the ethical character of their response to the hated opposition which, of course, deserves no better - especially in a crisis, such as would arise were Republicans to have the bad taste to dare to win a few elections.

Or so our dogmatic friends think.

Nor was the passing around of this broad personal attack on 51% of the US population an isolated incident, in the Pagan commuity. Consider the venting which took place on the Wren's Nest, following Kerry's defeat. Some of it bordered on the comical, such as the claim that we were living on a dying planet, due to the loosening of environmental resistrictions. Yes, somebody actually thought that when she watched "Earth II" on the SciFi channel, she was watching a documentary! But even in that post, what I saw was troubling, as I explained in a post which Wren, in her usual style, chopped up after the fact (without acknowledging publicly that she had even edited it):

Truly, much of what I've seen here has inspired me - which is not to say that it brought me any joy. It has inspired me to create a new webring, by reminding me not only of how little genuine tolerance there is to be found among our liberal so-called brethren, but of their less than charming habit of feigning acceptance as they say things like "The way I see it, having two political parties, and some rather polarized ideas, do serve a purpose when trying to run a big, powerful country." and then circumlocute their way over to something like "As a liberal Pagan, I do feel betrayed by Pagans who identify themselves as conservative." In other words, it's OK to be on the other side of the political aisle from them, but how dare we make the difference between their side and ours a meaningful one, instead of a show one, put in place to create the illusion of diversity where there is only conformity, a la the political correctness of the 1990s. Not only will such "brethren" slide in the knife, but they'll act as if they are making peace as they do so ...

"Live and let live, unless you would live or think differently from us ..."

There is no sense in trying to reason with people who approach life thusly. They're not listening. One might as well try to discuss the merits of contributing to the United Jewish Appeal with a Klansman. The best option one has, at such a point, is to walk away, and many politically conservative and moderate Pagans have done just that, walking away from Pagan networking and away from Paganism itself, very often. But does it really go without saying that the gods would run on the democratic ticket, given the chance? Neither the ancient Greeks or Romans, nor the pre-Christian Germanic peoples, who knew the gods through the religion which they lived, coming down to them through antiquity, lived their lives on anything resembling the terms of contemporary American Liberalism, nor did they seem to be moving in the direction, judging from where they ended up: at the moment of the foundation of modern Western civilization, with values radically at odds with those of coffeehouse progressives and campus radicals.

"How can there be such a thing as a Conservative Pagan?", some will ask, usually those who write Pagan/Wiccan without a second thought, paying lip service to the notion that these words are not synonomous without letting that notion rest in their minds for very long. But as loudly as some may scream, especially when they discover that attempts to intimidate others into joining in on their holy crusade are beginning to fail, the fact remains that the act of re-examining the values and experience of those who founded our civilization is a profoundly conservative act. With that thought in mind, and the desire to join with others as we have the sense to walk away from the screaming, I offer this ring for your consideration.

(This page is being hosted on the Almond Jar).